Fire escape apparatus



March 27, 1962 D. SWEIGART FIRE ESCAPE APPARATUS Filed May 27, 1959 INVEN T 011: $2

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United States Patent 3,026,959 FIRE ESCAPE APPARATUS David Sweigart, Wilmington, DeL, assignor to Sweigart Protection Company, Inc, Wilmington, Del. Filed May 27, 1959, Ser. No. 816,203 1 Claim. (Cl. 182-11) This invention relates to new and useful improvements in fire escape apparatus, and the principal object of the invention is to permit occupants of the upper floors of a building to quickly, easily and safely descend to the ground in the event of a fire or some other emergency.

This object is attained by the provision of a fire escape apparatus which comprises a cable, stretched in a sloping position between a relatively high level such as that of an upper floor of a building and a relatively low level at or adjacent the ground, together with a basket-like support having means separably and slidably engageable with the cable, so that a person, upon taking his position in the support, may apply the same to the cable and slide downwardly along the cable to safety.

One important feature of the invention resides in the provision of a dispensing storage device at the upper or elevated end of the cable, wherein a plurality of the.

basket-like supports may be accommodated for individ- Mal and successive dispensing when required by a plurality of persons.

Another important feature of the invention resides in the provision of brake means which are associated with each basket-like support and are adapted to be actuated by the occupant thereof for retarding or arresting his sliding movement along the cable, as desired.

Another important feature of the invention resides in the provision of a resilient shock absorber on the lower end portion of the cable, which is operative automatically to cushion the arrival of each basket-like support and its occupant at the low end of the cable.

Some of the advantages of the invention reside in its simplicity of construction, in its safe, efiicient and dependable operation, and in its adaptability to economical manufacture and installation in any desired location.

With the above more important objects and features in view and such other objects and features as may become apparent as this specification proceeds, the invention will be understood from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein like characters of reference are used to designate like parts, and wherein:

FIGURE 1 is an elevational view of the fire escape apparatus in accordance with the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view of the dispensing device, on an enlarged scale;

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary end view of the sling supporting hook in position on the cable; and

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary elevational view of the subject matter shown in FIGURE 3 and also illustrating the associated brake.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings in detail, the fire escape apparatus in accordance with the invention is designated generally by the reference numeral and embodies in its construction a sloping cable 11 which is stretched between a relatively high level A and a relatively low level B. As such, the high level may be one of the upper floors of a building and the low level may be at or adjacent the ground, although it is to be understood that the sloping cable may also extend between other points, such asfor example, from the top of a high building to the top of an adjacent, relatively lower one, or in any other environment where descent from one level to a lower level may be desired. In the instance illustrated, the high level A may be at a parapet of a building and the upper end of the cable 11 may be anchored either to the side of the building or, as shown, to an anchoring eye 12 provided on a dispensing storage device 13 which is provided on the parapet and constitutes a component of the invention. The lower end of the cable 11 may be anchored as at 14 to the side of an adjacent building, preferably at a point somewhat above the ground 15, so that when a person using the apparatus as hereinafter described descends to the lower end of the cable, his or her feet may come in contact with the ground.

The invention also comprises a plurality of basket-like supports 16 which are stored in a mutually nested relation in the storage device 13 and are individually and successively dispensable therefrom.

Each of the supports 16 consists of an annulus 17 having a plurality of downwardly convergent rods 18 secured thereto, the convergent lower ends of these rods carrying a suitable pad 19, or the like. The rods 18 are spaced apart at opposite sides of the support sufiiciently to provide a pair of openings through which a person may extend his or her legs when taking position in the support, as illustrated in the right-hand portion of FIGURE 1. A cable 26 extends from the pad 19 upwardly through guiding eyes 21 provided on the annulus 17 and is connected at the top thereof to a pin 22 at the lower end of an open-sided hook 23. The cable 20 thus constitutes a sling whereby the support 16 is suspended from the hook 23, as will be readily apparent.

The open-sided hook 23 is adapted to be laterally applied to and removed from the cable 11 and is slidable therealong, so that when a person places him or herself in the support 16 and applies the hook 23 to the cable 11 at the level A, he or she may slide downwardly along the cable by gravity, to the lower level B. In order to prevent the hookfrom becoming accidentally separated from the cable 11 during descent, a leaf spring 24 is provided on the bill of the hook 23 and normally closes the open side thereof, it being understood that the spring may be manually flexed so as to facilitate application of the hook to and removal thereof from the cable.

The upper portion of the hook 23 has pivoted thereto as at 25 a grooved brake shoe 26 which is preferably lined with friction-increasing material of any suitable type and is engageable with the cable 11 as shown. A lever 27 is formed integrally with the brake shoe 26 and has connected thereto one end of a flexible element-such as a rope or cable 28 which extends downwardly toward the support 16 for convenient actuation by the occupant of the latter, whereby the occupant may retard or arrest his or her sliding movement along the cable, as desired. The aforementioned lever 27 may be secured to the pivot pin 25 along with the brake shoe 26, or may be formed integrally with the brake shoe, as convenient.

A compression coil spring 29 is positioned on the lower end portion of the cable 11 in abutment with the anchor 14 and is adapted to be contacted by the hook 23 when the latter approaches the lower end of the cable, thus providing a shock absorber for cushioning the impact of the support 16 with its occupant upon reaching the level B, particularly in instances where the occupant does not have the presence of mind or for some other reason does not actuate the above mentioned brake.

The aforementioned dispensing storage device 13 for the supports 16 may be in the form of a cylindrical, vertically disposed housing in which the supports, including their individual slings 20 and hooks 23 are stored in nested relation. The associated dispensing means may be in the form of a pair of curved keepers 30 pivoted as at 31 to opposite sides of the housing and projectable and retractable through openings or slots 32 formed in the housing, each keeper having an actuating handle 33 whereby the two keepers may be rocked about their pivots to release the supports 16 individually through the bottom of the housing and permit several persons to suecessively utilize the apparatus.

It may be noted that while the invention is primarily intended for use as a fire escape apparatus, it may be also employed in other environments and for other uses, wherever descent from one level to another is desirable.

While in the foregoing there has been described and shown the preferred embodiment of the invention, various modifications may become apparent to those skilled in the art to which the invention relates. Accordingly, it is not desired to limit the invention to this disclosure and various modifications may be resorted to, such as may lie within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed as new is:

In a fire escape apparatus, the combination of a sloping cable, a carrier slidable downwardly along said cable, and an occupant support suspended from said carrier, said carrier comprising a vertically elongated body including an upper portion, a lower portion and an intermediate portion provided with a slot having an open entrance at one side of said intermediate portion and extending upwardly and inwardly therefrom to a closed end adjacent the upper portion of said body, the closed end of said slot slidably receiving said sloping cable upon application of said body laterally to the cable through the entrance of the slot, keeper means provided on said body at the entrance of said slot for retaining said cable in the closed end of the slot, means for suspending said occupant support from the lower portion of said body, and brake means comprising a substantially C-shaped brake member pivotally connected intermediate the ends thereof to the upper portion of said body for movement in a vertical plane, said C-shaped brake member including a relatively long upper arm and a relatively short lower arm formed with a groove and constituting a brake shoe, said brake shoe being disposed above said sloping cable and frictionally engageable with the upper surface of the cable when the brake means are applied, and an elongated flexible brake actuating element operable by the occupant of said support and connected to said upper arm of said brake member for pressing said brake shoe downwardly into frictional engagement with the cable.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 152,902 Gathright July 14, 1874 301,923 Reisdorfi July 15, 1884 482,813 Schwarz Sept. 20, 1892 501,990 Coons July 25, 1893 733,458 Cockerell July 14, 1903 1,621,098 Anderson Mar. 15, 1927 1,649,365 Poling Nov. 15, 1927 1,728,454 Sterling Sept. 17, 1929 

